In a message dated 09/19/2005 1:43:26 PM Central Daylight Time,
vinttr4@geneseo.net writes:
> Bill Dentinger with the always beautiful Thunderbolt -- broke a
> steering rack mounting, welded it up, then discovered that the rack
> itself was damaged. My only regret in that whole deal is that I
> didn't get to watch when the car went up on two wheels -- Bill
> attributes its finalfour point landing to having his weight on the
> proper side of the body.
>
Amici:
It continues to be a which came first thing here...the chicken or the egg?.
There were three issues a full water overflow bottle, a broken steering rack
mount, and a suspected 'broken' steering rack. I suspect I was overheated, and
did not notice it, but I was chasing a Volvo into turn one pretty much as
fast I as could, when I went into a violent spin (probably in my own slop),
turning the corner into a triple apex turn (with apexes on both sides of the
track). I hit them all, before spinning into the gravel collector pit. The
spin
stopped abruptly, as the right front and rear wheels dug in. I was up nearly
vertical on two wheels like a sail boat, but God must love me. She put me back
on the tires instead of the roll bar (where I sure thought I was going). Don
Brick, Bob Wismer and I went up to the control tower and talked the Control
Staff into showing us a DVD replay of the spin (ROAD AMERICA has an incredible
video system). I sure am glad my wife was not along, or I might get 'retired'.
This is a pretty car, because Bob and I take good care of it, but she is no
virgin. She's been in several 'incidents', started on fire twice. This was
the 82nd event we have entered with the car since restoring it. We pulled the
radiator at the track, and repaired (welded) the steering rack mounts. We
were prepared to continue running, but we still had an unexplained 'rough spot'
in the steering, which concerned us, and I decided not to race. This morning
in the shop we discovered the steering wheel shaft was bent slightly (that's
how hard I came down) and a knuckle was rubbing on the frame. In retrospect,
we
probably could have raced it, but better sure than sorry. We're going to
take another look at the steering rack mounts, and then we should be good for
MID-OHIO next month. Only the laundry knows how excited I got.
Our TALISMAN was tested, but not raced in five sessions. Bob Wismer was
still short shifting at about 4,500 'shakedown' RPMs on Sunday, and making
adjustments every couple of laps. The car got better and better. Bob says the
car
has some real potential. He's excited. We should sell tickets for people to
watch us get in and out of this 'Lotus like' car. We may have to carry a 55
gallon drum of KY Jelly, or maybe even lose weight (geeezzz, what a concept).
Bill (Damdinger)
PS
I watched the Group 2 race from Turn 14. Everyone looked good, especially
Uncle Jack and FOT Grand Poo Bah Joe Alexander. Fridirici was not far behind,
but developed a gremlin, and was not running at the end. Irv Korey and Dennis
Delap, while not quite as fast, looked very smooth and consistent. We watched
the Group 8 race from the front straight, and Al Washatko goes fast in his
TR6. He was up near the front, beating a Sunbeam Tiger and all kinds of other
heavy-hitter stuff. For a couple of seconds he looked like TR6 racer, P.
Newman.
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